The United Nations

The United Nations (UN) is an organization of nations that works for world peace. It also tries to make the lives of people around the world better and safer. If fighting starts between two or more countries, the UN may try to stop it. After the fighting stops, the UN may help work out ways to keep it from starting again. Most of all, the UN tries to take care of problems before they lead to fighting and war. The UN also works with other organizations that deal with such worldwide issues as communications, farming, health, and living and working conditions.

Almost all of the world's independent countries belong to the United Nations. They are called member nations. The UN has 192 member nations. Each member nation sends a person to UN headquarters in New York City to represent it. At the headquarters, these people hold meetings to talk about problems around the world and try to solve them.

The United Nations has been successful in preventing some wars and in helping many people. But it has also had some problems. The member nations do not always agree with each other. Some member nations, including the United States, do not pay their fair share of the money the UN needs to do its work.

The United Nations was established on October 24, 1945, soon after the end of World War II. That war lasted from 1939 to 1945 and involved about 60 nations around the world. Millions of people died in the war. Many of the countries that fought in World War II decided that such a war must never happen again, and so they started the UN.

"United Nations (UN)." World Book Kids World Book, 2010. Web. 6 June 2010




Use the article to answer the following questions:

1) What is the United Nations?

2) Why is it important?

3) Who belongs to the United Nations? What are they called?

4) What happens at the UN Headquarters?

5) What has the United Nations been successful at?

6) What are some of the problems?

7) How many years did World War II last?

8) What happened after the war was over?

Symbols Quiz

Answer the following questions in your social studies notebooks. You may use your notes.

1) What is a symbol?

2) Draw two examples of a symbol.

3) Can more than one symbol stand for the same thing? Give an example.

4) What is the Liberty Bell a symbol of?

5) The ____________ is the national bird. It represents ___________ and _____________.

6) Name two buildings that stand for the United States?.

State and Local Government Quiz

Directions: Using your notes as a reference, match the terms in Column A with the definitions in Column B.




Name three things that local governments run.

1.

2.

3.


Name three things that state governments spend money on.

1.

2.

3.


Who is the mayor of New York City?





Raise your hand when you have finished.

Unit 3

Grade 2

Unit 3: Urban, Suburban and Rural Communities

Focus: Features of urban, suburban and rural communities are different.

Students will create a semantic map about the features of an urban, suburban or rural community.

Activities:

1) Students will watch a film about urban, suburban and rural communities.

2) Students will use kidspiration to organize information about urban, suburban and rural communities.

3) Students will open and save a semantic map in Kidspiration.

4) Students will import photos and add text to their semantic maps.

Skyscrapers

Skyscrapers are the world's tallest buildings. These giant structures were first built during the late 1800's in Chicago and New York City. Skyscrapers have space for offices, stores, hotels, restaurants, sports clubs, and other businesses. Some people live in skyscrapers, too. Some skyscrapers have so much space and offer so many activities and services that they are like small cities.

A lot of planning goes into building a skyscraper. These buildings have two main parts: the foundation, or the part below the ground, and the superstructure, or the part above the ground. Both parts help support the weight of the building.

The world's tallest skyscrapers include Burj Khalifa in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Shanghai World Financial Centre in China; Taipei 101 in Taipei, Taiwan; the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; and the Willis (formerly Sears) Tower in Chicago.

"Skyscraper." World Book Kids World Book, 2010. Web. 8 Dec. 2010.

Land Forms Project

Land Forms Project

In the context of studying how geography influences where people choose to live:

1) Students learned, This Land Is Your Land, a song which portrays the natural beauty of our country and reminds us that it's available for all of us.



2) Students watched a movie in BrainPop Jr. about various land forms found in our country and how they affect where people live. Students discussed these effects and we recorded their responses using a graphic organizer, Kidspiration.






3) Students drew pictures of the various land forms studied using the program Kid Pix.



4) The class recorded a version of This Land Is Your Land using the program Garage Band.




5) Using a program called Animoto we made a presentation of their drawings and song.


Here are the culminating projects from the second grade classes:



CLASS 2-205

Land Forms

Hello Students:

Below are pictures of some of the land forms we have been studying in class:

MOUNTAIN



CONTINENTS



HILL



PLATEAU



VALLEY



ANOTHER VALLEY



YET ANOTHER VALLEY



CANYON




PLAINS



PRAIRIE



COAST



BEACH








ISLAND




Now you will open Kid Pix and draw your own picture of a land form.